Recreation: Parks and Recreation
The Great Outdoors
North Carolina and Cabarrus County have everything you need to kick back for vacation and recreation. The Appalachian Mountains are 90 minutes to the west and offer four-season recreation. Whether you enjoy hiking on the Appalachian Trail, whitewater rafting on one of the fifteen popular rivers or snow skiing at one of North Carolina’s nine ski resorts, you can do it all. There is also the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway, providing a unique mountaintop drive with spectacular views. Three hours to the east of Cabarrus County are 300 miles of beautiful Atlantic coastline offering mild temperatures from March through October.
Closer by are numerous golf courses for every level of play; rivers and lakes for fishing, boating, and swimming, and an abundance of parks and recreational facilities. Cabarrus County offers challenging golf at Rocky River Golf Club, Cabarrus Country Club, and The Club at Irish Creek . In fact, there are over 85 golf courses in the Charlotte Region. If you choose to venture outside of the region for golf, Pinehurst is less than two hours away. You may even consider making the trip to Myrtle Beach, home of over 100 golf courses and about four hours away by car. These are two of the country’s premier golf destinations.
If you enjoy getting wet, there's no need to leave the area. Hot water spots include Lake Norman, 3,200 acre Mountain Island Lake, and 12,000 acre Lake Wylie. Lake Norman is the largest of the three with over 520 miles of shoreline. Lake Norman State Park (located in Iredell County) offers swimming areas, a boat launch, picnic facilities, and campgrounds. Ramsey Creek Park, Blythe Landing, and Jetton Park are nearby in Mecklenburg County.
Cabarrus County Parks and Recreation operates three countywide parks and 35 school parks. These parks provide more than 400 acres of passive and active recreational space, including tournament-quality athletic fields, gymnasiums, playgrounds, picnic shelters, tennis courts, mountain bike trails, horseshoe pits, disc golf courts, bocce courts, volleyball and basketball courts, miniature golf, paddleboats, fishing lakes, rental cabins, walking and jogging trails and more.